TILL v. DOLGENCORP INC. D/B/A DOLLAR GENERAL

Filing 8

ENTRY ON JURISDICTION - The Defendants are ORDERED to file a Supplemental Jurisdictional Statement that establishes the Court's jurisdiction over this case. This statement should specifically identify the member of Defendant Dolgencorp LLC and that member's citizenship. This jurisdictional statement is due fourteen (14) days from the date of this Entry. See entry for details. Signed by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on 1/23/2018. (MEJ)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
LEE TILL,
Plaintiff,
v.
DOLGENCORP LLC and
DOLGENCORP INC.
d/b/a DOLLAR GENERAL,
Defendants.

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No. 1:18-cv-00127-TWP-DML

ENTRY ON JURISDICTION
It has come to the Court’s attention that Defendants’ Notice of Removal fails to allege all
of the facts necessary to determine whether this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this case.
The Notice of Removal alleges that this Court has jurisdiction based upon diversity of citizenship.
However, the Notice of Removal fails to sufficiently allege the citizenship of Defendant
Dolgencorp LLC. Citizenship is the operative consideration for jurisdictional purposes. See
Meyerson v. Harrah’s East Chicago Casino, 299 F.3d 616, 617 (7th Cir. 2002) (“residence and
citizenship are not synonyms and it is the latter that matters for purposes of the diversity
jurisdiction”).
“For diversity jurisdiction purposes, the citizenship of an LLC is the citizenship of each of
its members.” Thomas v. Guardsmark, LLC, 487 F.3d 531, 534 (7th Cir. 2007). “Consequently, an
LLC’s jurisdictional statement must identify the citizenship of each of its members as of the date
the complaint or notice of removal was filed, and, if those members have members, the citizenship
of those members as well.” Id.

The Notice of Removal alleges that “Dolgencorp, LLC is, and at the time the complaint
was filed, was, a single-member, manager-managed Kentucky limited-liability company and is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Dollar General Corporation, which is both incorporated and has its
principal place of business in the State of Tennessee.” (Filing No. 1 at 2.) This jurisdictional
allegation does not establish the citizenship of Defendant Dolgencorp LLC. Rather, this allegation
notes that Defendant Dolgencorp LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dollar General
Corporation and has a single member, but it fails to identify that member. Alleging the identity
and citizenship of the sole member of the Defendant limited liability company is necessary for this
Court to determine whether it has jurisdiction.
Therefore, the Defendants are ORDERED to file a Supplemental Jurisdictional Statement
that establishes the Court’s jurisdiction over this case. This statement should specifically identify
the member of Defendant Dolgencorp LLC and that member’s citizenship. This jurisdictional
statement is due fourteen (14) days from the date of this Entry.
SO ORDERED.
Date:

1/23/2018

Distribution:
Sarah Jane Graziano
HENSLEY LEGAL GROUP, PC
[e-mail]
Lyndsay I. Ignasiak
REMINGER CO. LPA (Indianapolis)
[e-mail]
Ronald A. Mingus
REMINGER CO. LPA (Indianapolis)
[e-mail]

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